The demand for shopping on multi-vendor marketplaces has been rising in Australia recently, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Data from Statista, up to December 2023, reveals the leading players in the Australian multi-vendor marketplace market, measured by average monthly visits. This includes international giants like Amazon and eBay and local brands such as Kmart and Coles. 

Therefore, other Australian businesses still have ample opportunities to join the eCommerce landscape. The critical initial step is to choose the right platform to build an online marketplace that suits the specific business needs. 

Here 5 popular choices of many Australian eCommerce businesses. 

Learn more: 14 must-have features to build your online marketplace

Marketplacer

Marketplacer is a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform that allows you to create your multi-vendor marketplace by integrating with existing eCommerce systems like Adobe Commerce, BigCommerce, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, and commercetools. 

You can also build the Headless eCommerce marketplace by integrating custom frontends into Marketplacer’s backend through APIs. This gives you complete control over the user experience and the optimized platform operation.

Pros:

• User-friendly interface
• Large seller community
• Rich documentation and learning resources
• Diverse solutions for managing categories, inventory, and sellers
• Seamless integration with various third-party systems
• Technical support and seller support
• High security with SSL, Encryption, Multi-Factor Authentication

Cons:

• The platform fee isn’t public, you’ll need to contact the sales team. 
• Require high technical skills
• The customizability may not need the complex large online marketplace

Top features:

• Category management
• Inventory management
• Seller management
• Flexibly customize the eCommerce marketplace storefront to align with your brand
• Seamless and secure integration with popular payment gateways
• Localize your multi-vendor marketplace
• SEO

Price: Pricing may vary based on specific requirements

Learn more: Build your first online marketplace with the Marketplacer platform

Magento 2

Magento 2 is a widely used eCommerce platform globally, known for its flexibility and superior scalability. The platform offers you the Multi-Vendor Marketplace Extension, allowing you to build your online marketplace with the Magento framework.

Using this extension, you can convert your Magento eCommerce website into a feature-rich marketplace like Amazon and eBay.

Pros:

• High customizability
• Wide range of third-party extensions
• Mobile-friendly design
• Scalable for large eCommerce marketplaces
• Excellent customer support
• High security
• Large user community

Cons:

• Require high technical skills
• Require huge time and budget
• Resource-intensive, especially for large-scale marketplaces

Top features:

• Admin features
• Seller features
• Customer features
• Inventory management
• Payment management
• Category management
• SEO

Price: Pricing may vary based on specific requirements

Learn more: Magento 1 vs Magento 2: Full Comparison

Yo!Kart

Yo!Kart is a leading self-hosted eCommerce solution that you can consider for building a customized online marketplace. Yo!Kart is designed to be user-friendly

prominent that businesses can consider for building a customized online marketplace. Designed to be user-friendly, Yo!Kart allows businesses complete control, customization, and flexible scale to manage and operate their eCommerce marketplace efficiently.

Pros:

• Full control over the system
• Flexible customizability & scalability
• User-friendly interface
• 1-year technical support
• Good customer services
• SEO-friendly architecture

Cons:

• Require high technical skills
• Resource-intensive, especially for large-scale marketplaces

Top features:

• Admin features
• Seller features
• Customer features
• Built-in analytics and reporting
• Advanced search
• SEO
• Mobile apps for both sellers and buyers

Price: Starting from $1099/year. However, costs may vary based on specific requirements.

CedCommerce

CedCommerce is a platform that helps you expand your online operations by creating a feature-rich eCommerce marketplace. With CedCommerce, you can easily manage multiple vendors and provide them with a robust platform to sell their products. 

One key feature of CedCommerce is its ability to integrate with various eCommerce platforms such as Magento, Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, etc. CedCommerce, with its high flexibility, offers you many customization options, including the ability to customize vendor onboarding processes, commission rates, shipping rates, and more.

Pros:

• Diverse customization options
• Mobile-friendly design
• Flexible integration with existing eCommerce systems
• Various add-ons support
• Good customer services

Cons:

• The platform fee isn’t public
• Costs may increase based on add-on integration
• Require high technical skills
• Resource-intensive, especially for large-scale marketplaces

Top features:

• Admin features
• Seller features
• Buyer features
• Advanced inventory management
• Seamless integration with multiple eCommerce platforms
• SEO

Price: The fees aren’t public and will vary based on specific requirement

CS-Cart Multi-Vendor

CS-Cart Multi-Vendor is known as a specialized platform for building online marketplaces with superior customizability and scalability. Integrated with over 26 languages and featuring unique functionalities, this all-in-one solution is suitable for various industries and deployment needs.

Pros:

• User-friendly interface
• Mobile-friendly design
• Diverse payment methods
• High scalability for businesses of all sizes
• Rich learning resources
• Good customer services

Cons:

• Require high technical skills
• Resource-intensive, especially for large-scale marketplaces

Top features:

• Admin features
• Seller features
• Buyer features
• Advanced order management
• Commission fee system
• Seamless integration with multiple payment gateways
• Real-time estimated shipping costs
• SEO

Price: Pricing may vary depending on specific needs.

Build Your First Multi-Vendor Marketplace Platform Today!

Here are 5 platforms widely used by Australian businesses to build flexible, feature-rich, and optimized custom online marketplaces. With experience in deploying numerous multi-vendor marketplace projects for Australian clients such as Laybyland, Seconds Deals, etc., SECOMM has a team of highly skilled technical experts with a deep understanding of the Australian market.

If you’re ready to build an eCommerce marketplace, contact SECOMM or call (+84)28 7108 9908 today for a free consultation!